The Frightfully Short Marriage
All in all, Anne and Henry only spent half a year as husband and wife – becoming a record for the king: his shortest marriage yet. You might think that Henry moved through his wives incredibly quickly, and while this was certainly the case with Anne, he stayed with his first wife, called Catherine of Aragon, for a lengthy period that lasted 24 years. This first marriage would last longer than all his other marriages put together.
The Frightfully Short Marriage
You might have heard the infamous rhyme ‘divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived’. This is an easy way to remember what happened to all of Henry’s wives, but you should remember that Anne would fare far, far better than most of the other women in the cruel king’s life. This is made all the more significant when you consider how unhappy their time together was. Anne would not only evade execution, but she would actually leave with her hands full. More on that later.
The King Looks For A Scapegoat
King Henry VIII was not a predictable man. He would often explode with anger randomly. But his wrath became all the more villainous as he became wisened. The fortress prison called the Tower of London would later brim with individuals that Henry had personally condemned. You can be sure that locking people up was a convenient way to deal with his problems. He needed someone to pin the blame for his failed marriage on. But who would suffice?
The King Looks For A Scapegoat
If you guessed that it would be Thomas Cromwell that would play the fall guy, well done! Supposedly, Cromwell was roughly removed from a high-level meeting on June 10, 1540, and was swiftly delivered to the Tower. He didn’t spend a long time in his cell, however, as by the time July was wrapping up, the former right-hand man to the king’s head rolled. A crowd gathered to watch one of the most influential men in England be executed like a common criminal.
